Monday, December 26, 2011

This is eight in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. 2o kms apart twin towns of Belur and Halebid are home for temples known for their exquisite Hoysala architecture. The temples at both these places are built by renowned architect Jakkanna Acharya in the 12th century.

Both the Hoysaleswara Temple of Halebid and the Chennakesava Temple of Belur have intricate sculptures and friezes. They include elephants, lions, horses, episodes from the Indian mythological epics, and sensuous dancers. Inside the temple are a number of ornate pillars.

As some of these sculptures represent scenes from Hindu epics, some of the sculptures in these temple look similar. One such sculpture is daemon King Ravana lifting Kailasa mountain. Atop the mountain is Lord Shiva with Parvati. This is based on Hindu epic Ramayana.

Another sculpture is Arjuna hitting the eye of fish using his bow and arrow looking at its reflection in the water near his feet. This scene is carved beautifully with some minor differences. This is based on Hindu epic Mahabarath.

There intricate sculptures at two different temples are carved very similar to each other. How could they achieve these in the ancient times? Were the ancient civilization so advanced that they knew techniques of photography and photocopying. There are more than thousand sculptures in each of these temples. It is possible that some of them are similar to each other and we may be able to identify them if observed them with interest.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Aghoreshwara Temple of Ikkeri is a well proportionate structure, built of granite. It was built by Keladi Nayaks in the 16th century. The architecture of the temple is a unique mix where Dravidian style is combined with style from the Deccan.

The temple has ornamental doorways in three directions North, West and East with North as main entry point. The sculptures on either side of the huge doorways are striking. The temple is reddish pink in color all around.

The carvings and lattice work on the windows of the temple are simple and quiet unique. The carvings on the stone walls of the temple are intricate. In contrast to the temple color there are two small black stone elephant sculptures at the entrance.

The Garbhagriha, which is built of huge stones, houses Shiv linga. Outside the Garbhgriha doorway there are two niches, those to the right containing the figures of Ganesha and Subramanya and those to the left figures of Mahishasuramardini and Bhairava.

The huge stone Nandi is housed opposite to the temple in open stone mantapa. The surface of Nandi is very smooth and appears as if it has been polished.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tanaji Malusare was a brave warrior and a leader in the army of Maharaja Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire in the 17th century.He is known for the battle he fought to recapture the fort Kondana near Pune for his King Shivaji.

Kondana fort is at the top stiff cliff and is known to impossible to be captured by using force. He planned to storm the extremely well-guarded fort in the middle of the night. Tanaji and his troops scaled the fort with the help of monitor lizards (the iguana). They fought a fierce battle to recapture the fort. He fought with another brave man Udaybhan Rathod from the opposition ranks even after he lost his shield. It is known that Tanaji fought Udaybhan by tying a cloth over one of his hands and using it to ward off Uday Bhan's sword attacks. Tanaji and his men managed to capture the fort, but Tanaji lost his life in the battle.

Maharaja Shivaji renamed the fort from Kondana to Sinhagad in his honor. His words after hearing about the demise of Tanaji were "Gad ala pan Sinha gela" He meant "Won the Fort, lost the Lion"

Monday, December 12, 2011

Varaha Cave Temple in Mahabalipuram is a rock-cut temple. It is a 7th century small monolithic temple with a mandapa. The mandapa is guarded by sculptures of two Pallava doorkeepers. In front of mandapa are two pillars and two semi-columns that have horned lions carved into the bases.

Inside the mandapa the walls have four large sculptured panels, which are finest examples of ancient craftsmanship. The delineation and modeling of the figures are remarkable.

On the panel to your left is Lord Vishnu incarnated as Varaha raising goddess earth from the ocean. There is still hint a red color at the top of the panel.Opposite to this is the panel showcasing Trivikrama overcoming the demon king Bali.

At the rear are the two panels on either side of opening - Gajalakshmi seated on lotus and bathed by elephants, Durga with four arms.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

This temple in Manjeshwar is most ancient temple in the area. The temple is in a low laying area and has to be approached by going down the slope.

This temple like many other ancient temple was ravaged by both man and nature. The portions of the temple was devastated by cyclone in 1677. The temple was later looted by various people several times from 1750 and 1799. In 1804, it was renovated by the Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. The inner sanctum was recently again renovated in 2010 -2010.

The main sanctum has images of the three deities. Besides the image of Shiva, there are images of Lord Narasimha (Ananteshwar) and Subramanya.There is a peepal tree outside the temple with various snake sculptures around the tree. There is also a small little temple pond near the temple.

Monday, December 5, 2011

In Udaygiri (State: Madhya Pradesh) which is 13kms away from Sanchi there are a series of rock-cut sanctuaries and images excavated into hillside. These carvings in the caves are carved during the Gupta Empire between 4th and 5th Century. The literal translation of Udaygiri is the 'Mountain of the Sunrise'.

The caves here are numbered for convenience of identifying. The most famous sculpture is the monumental figure of Vishnu in his incarnation as the boar-headed Varaha. Another interesting sculpture is that of Shivlinga where hair is tied up into a topknot.

I think there are alltogether 14 to 16 caves. I could explore only few caves due to shortage of time. This was the last place that I visited during my trip of Madhya Pradesh state. We shall explore the following caves in detail very soon.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The coastal village of Manjeshwar is part of Kerala state and it is bordering Karnataka State. It is known as 'Pancha Bhasha Bhumi' as five languages namely Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Urdu and Konkani are prominently in use here.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Trimurti Cave Temple in Mahabalipuram is located behind huge rocks and a passage leads one to this temple.

We would have missed seeing this temple, had I not followed a group of travelers going in the direction of the rocks. I am glad I followed them.

This 7th century rock-cut shrine is unique in that is honors the Hindu Trinity in one place. This cave temple is devoted to three supreme gods of Hindus, Brahma-the creator, Vishnu-the preserver and Shiva-the destroyer.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

If one is in Bhopal, not a single opportunity to visit the 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi should be missed. It was commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE. It is one of the oldest stone structures in India.

It is a simple hemispherical brick structure measuring 36.5mts in diameter and 16.4 mts high. built over the relics of the Buddha. It is crowned by a parasol-like structure symbolizing high rank. Inside the Stupa there are relics of the Buddha. The dome which is flattened near the top is crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. It is a symbol of the Dharma, the Wheel of the Law.

There are four monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions.The gateways carved out of stone are covered with narrative sculptures. They showed scenes from the life of the Buddha. They show scenes from the life of Buddha. The gateways were erected c. 35 BCE. The four gateways are the finest works of art at Sanchi and are among the finest examples of Buddhist art in India.

On these stone carvings the Buddha was never depicted as a human figure as it was thought to be too confining for the Buddha. The artists choose to represent him by certain attributes, such as the horse on which he left his father’s home, his footprints or a canopy under the Bodhi Tree at the point of his enlightenment.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Pancha Rathas are group of important monuments in Mahabalipuram. These 7th century shrines were carved sometime in the period 630 - 670 A.D. during the reign of King Narasimhavarman I. There are totally five shrines, each of them are monolith, carved out from an outcropping of rock.

Since these temples are still unfinished, no worship has been offered there.Pancha Rathas when translated mean "five chariots", and they are named individually after Draupadi and the Pandava brothers. It is different matter that there may not be relation between them and the epic Mahabharata.

The view in this photo is from the northwest. In the foreground is a carved lion. Behind the lion, from left to right in the photo, are the Draupadi, Arjuna, and Bhima Rathas. In front of Bhima Ratha is Elephant and Nakul-Sahadava Ratha. Dharmaraja Ratha is hidden in this photo behind the other structures.

Draupadi Shrine is the smallest and simplest and it is formed as a bangla hut. The Arjuna shrine is like a small palace or pavillion, with sculpted pilasters, and an octagonal dome. Bhima Shrine is the largest with its barrel vaulting and long columned porch. Seated lions are carved in front of the columns at the base. Nakul-Sahadeva Shrine is south-facing and is in apsidal shape.

Dharmaraja Shrine is a larger version of the Arjuna Shrine with pyramidal roof. The building is topped by an octagonal-shaped dome, the shikhara. Since there is a increase in the elevation below this shrine, it gives a clear look at the decorative elements of its roof, when compared with Arjuna's similar roof.

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is in Pune is a must see place. The museum showcases the various items that are collected by Dr Dinkar G. Kelkar since 1920.

The museum is a three storey building that houses more that 20000 items of which 2,500 are on display. There are various sculptures, ornaments made of ivory, silver and gold, musical instruments, paintings, war weapons and vessels, etc.

Some of the sculptures date back to 14th century. Also on display are Indian decorative items from everyday life and other art objects, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

One need more than half a day to cover this museum leisurely. Unfortunately I had only one hour on my hand, I did not purchase the ticket for photography. I entered the the museum when there was one hour for closure.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

When in Bangalore all tour operators will surely take one to this temple. Even though new the temple has been constructed beautifully and well known in the city.ISKCON Temple is the temple of Lord Krishna and Radha. It is located at Rajajinagar, in the North Bangalore.Built on a small hillock it is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world. The construction of the temple that sprawls on 7 acres of land is completed in 1997. Built in neo-classical style of architecture, the temple brings together conventional architecture with ultra-modern services.

The Temple has six shrines. The main shrine is for Radha-Krishna. Others are Krishna Balrama, Nitai Gauranga, Srinivasa Govinda, Prahlada Narasimha and Srila Prabhupada.The main hall of the temple covering a area of 10000 sq ft has the first three shrines that are listed above. The ceiling of the hall is decorated with beautiful paintings of Lord Krishna made by the Russian painters.

About Me

Love traveling across India and capturing what I see in images. There is so much to discover and one life is not enough. I just love the experience. This is my small attempt to share my experiences with the world.
Contact: rajeshprabh@gmail.com